PBS高端访谈:科罗拉多进行天然气革命

 　　JEFFREY BROWN: And next, Ray Suarez continues his series about the changing energy picture in this country.

　　Tonight, he visits Colorado, where natural gas is taking center stage, prompting questions about the future of both coal and alternative energy resources.

　　RAY SUAREZ: For a long time, it was simple and straightforward¹ here in Colorado. The coal sits in big fat seams close to the surface. Strip off a layer of soil, pull out the coal, burn it right next door to make electricity, and sell what you don't burn right here. It's not so simple anymore.

　　Increased federal regulations of electric power plants have made it tougher to meet EPA guidelines burning only coal. At the same time, the price of natural gas has been dropping, and we have been finding it in more and more places.

　　And that has set up a tough battle between the coal companies and the natural gas industry.

　　When the new regulations are fully² phased in, Colorado utilities are going to burn a lot less coal, converting some plants to burning natural gas, shutting others down altogether.

　　BILL RITTER, former Colo. governor: We went in and we reformed all the rules.

　　RAY SUAREZ: During his time as Colorado's governor, Bill Ritter brokered³ the deal with the state's largest electricity producer.

　　BILL RITTER: Over time, the use of coal will depend a lot upon what kind of research and development can lead to cleaner coal alternatives. If they're not there and they're not economical and they can't compete with gas or renewables, then they will go away.

　　RAY SUAREZ: The United States is in the midst of a gas revolution. More deposits are found with every passing year that can be drilled economically. Right now, gas is really cheap to burn and cleaner than coal.

　　TISHA CONOLY SCHULLER, Colorado Oil and Gas Association: By transitioning from coal to natural gas, you can reduce carbon monoxide and particulates⁴ by 90 percent. You can reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, carbon dioxide by more than 40 percent. And you can essentially⁵ reduce and eliminate sulfur⁶ dioxide and mercury altogether. These are significant benefits for Coloradans' health and for overall air quality here.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Cheap, abundant gas, less pollution, less coal getting burned.

　　To the secretary of the interior, natural gas is transforming the economics of making power in America.

　　INTERIOR SECRETARY KEN⁷ SALAZAR: I think it will become a centerpiece of our energy portfolio⁸ for the next century for a lot of reasons. It's one of the greatest opportunities we see for both our economic security, our national security and our environmental security.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Sounds so simple, you might ask, why make all that investment in wind, solar and other forms of renewables, when there's so much gas?

　　KEN SALAZAR: In my view and the president's view, this does not at all displace what we want to do with solar and with wind energy.

　　&nbs0;RAY SUAREZ: Salazar says both gas and renewables reduce the country's energy imports and make economic sense. Some environmentalists worry that the gas boom, instead of leading to a clean energy future, just gets us hooked on a new fossil fuel.

　　DAN ARVIZU, National Renewable Energy Laboratory: The bar just got a bit higher for the entrance of some of these new and alternative technologies into the energy mix.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Dan Arvizu directs the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado. He concedes the new supplies of cheap gas have challenged the cost-effectiveness of renewables. Natural gas is a bridge to the new technologies his scientists are inventing, he says, not a replacement⁹ for them. Cheap gas buys some time.

　　DAN ARVIZU: If we didn't have natural gas as this potential opportunity, then I think we would be in a much more urgent set of conditions than we are today. So it gives us a little bit of time to really solve the problem much more deliberately¹⁰, and hopefully that has long-lasting sort of impacts to it.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Arvizu notes every energy source has benefits and costs. Gas offers flexibility¹¹. After all, the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. A power plant can throw a switch and start burning gas for power immediately. That's something you can't do with coal.

　　BILL RITTER: So, backing off of this is a really bad idea.

　　RAY SUAREZ: The former governor told me you can't stop investing in renewables, even while taking full advantage of new gas supplies.

　　BILL RITTER: We have to view this as a global competition where we actually can capture the innovation part of it. Our scientists are still the best in the world. We own the innovation space, and then we have to decide how much of the manufacturing space we want to own.

　　RAY SUAREZ: That's the vision, but, right now, there are looming¹² deadlines to meet for Colorado's energy producers. Xcel Energy has a portfolio of old coal-burning plants, like this one just north of Denver, that will stop burning coal soon to meet the new targets. Demolition¹³ to make way for the new generator¹⁴ is under way.

　　DAVID EVES, Public Service Company of Colorado: We have already shut unit one down now.

　　RAY SUAREZ: David Eves, CEO of Denver's main electric utility, says the new gas-burning capacity and the closure of aging coal-only plants protects his customers against the costs of future regulation and price swings, even while his customers pay to build the new plants.

　　DAVID EVES: The other thing our customers get out of this plan is a good balance of energy. At the end of the decade, 48 percent of our energy will still come from coal-fired plants, and about a third of our energy will come from natural gas-fired plants, including what will be here, and the other 25 percent or so will come from wind and solar and other renewable sources.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Catch that? Even with all the new gas supply, new plant investment and regulation, coal will still account for almost half Colorado's electricity. That's still way down from earlier levels, and that has the coal industry pushing back.

　　STUART SANDERSON, Colorado Mining Association: I think it's a shame if we move away from coal production and from the use of coal for electricity in this country. Number one, it's our most abundant energy fuel.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Not only is much of the world's coal in the U.S., Sanderson says; the natural gas industry has done a great public relations job, exaggerating the environmental advantages of gas, for one, without mentioning frequent spikes¹⁵ and drops in price.

　　STUART SANDERSON: Coal also is associated with much lower electricity rates for energy consumers. And, in fact, our data shows that the price of natural gas is over time double that of coal, and with much more volatility¹⁶.

　　RAY SUAREZ: The coal industry still has its supporters.

　　Tri-State, the energy cooperative that serves rural Colorado, is suing the federal government to stop the regulatory pressure to burn less coal.

　　LEE BOUGHEY, Tri-State Generation and Transmission: The EPA has grossly exceeded their authority when it comes to new regulations that effect coal plants. We need to make sure that we don't arbitrarily take options off the table. We can't take a coal option off the table. We can't only rely on gas.

　　RAY SUAREZ: So much American electricity comes from coal, the country won't have a way of doing without it any time soon. But energy analysts¹⁷ across the country are likely keep a close watch on how the changes in Colorado unfold.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Tomorrow, Ray reports from Utah, where a new approach to managing resources and public land has led to a remarkable¹⁸ partnership¹⁹.

　　And there's much more online tonight, where you can find just about everything you wanted to know about hydraulic²⁰ fracturing, commonly called fracking. It's the controversial practice largely responsible for the boom in natural gas production.

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

4 particulates   

n.微粒，粒子( particulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

7 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

8 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

9 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

12 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

13 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

14 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

15 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

17 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

18 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

19 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

20 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。